online education

Friday, September 14, 2007

There are 2,474 four-year colleges and universities just in the United States, but how do you choose the right one? There are considerable pitfalls to choosing a college solely on the basis of the following reasons: your partner is going there, your best friend is going there, the students are good-looking, there are a lot of parties, the football team is top-notch, the school is well-known or highly acclaimed for its prestige, or it just looks good in the pamphlets. These are all insufficient reasons for selecting the right college.Let’s go through them one by one. Just because your boyfriend or girlfriend from high school is going doesn’t mean that you should. Your life is really just beginning. Once you get to college, one of you could realize that you want to see other people, or stay single to focus on studies, or either of you might meet someone new. Even if you think you’re going to spend the rest of your life with someone, feelings are fickle, and you need a less flimsy reason to choose a college. If you follow your best friend to a college, or vice versa, you are likely to miss out on one of the greatest gifts that college offers, and that is the huge variety of interesting people open to friendship. It’s not good to spend all your time with one friend. However, if both of you are interested in the same major, campus, and extra-curricular activities offered by the college, then it’s a good idea to have a friend there. Going to school to party isn’t all that intelligent. Your whole life is ahead of you, and too much partying can cause you to fall behind, fail classes, and end up without a college degree. The tuition costs are too exorbitant to gamble with your studies. Don’t go to a school just because it has an attractive group of students. Pick a college with a strong program for your major, and you’ll be likely to find someone that has your same interests. It’s unwise to chase after the opposite sex the whole time, or you could neglect your studies. While school spirit is important, a good football team is irrelevant unless you want to be on the football team. Prestigious universities might not be right for you. The curriculum could be too difficult, and they might not offer a strong program for your major. The extra-curricular activities could be slim or not fit what you’re interested in. Moreover, there is no substitute for visiting a campus in person and getting a feel for it. You have to see if it meshes with you.Now that you have seen the reasons that don’t warrant a college decision, let’s look at the important factors that do shape your choice. It may surprise some people to learn that colleges can be mostly agnostic versus mostly Christian. Different schools also have student bodies with different idealogies, e.g., liberal, conservative, progressive, atheist, and more. On campus, it’s critical to have some people that hold the same beliefs as you. You don’t want to arrive at a college widely known for pot-smoking, drunken shenanigans, or a top 10 football team if that’s not your cup of tea.Location is a factor too. If you need to be near your home frequently, you can save money on driving costs and/or airline tickets if you go to a college in-state. A college far away, but still in-state, can be a lot cheaper than out-of-state even when it comes to airlines. Also, there is cheaper tuition for in-state residents. The next most important thing is the climate and geography. If it’s too cold, you’re going to have trouble and unnecessary discomfort. If it’s in the hustle and bustle of a major metropolitan area, it could distract you. A rural, suburban, or massive urban area could be what you’re looking for. Again, once you’ve narrowed down the environment, it’s important to get a look for yourself.Furthermore, the size of the student body can be burdensome for some and energizing for others. Do you want a close-knit campus or a garguantan group of students? Also, what are your extra-curricular interests? Do you like student government, politics, the arts, pottery, football, or technology? Choose colleges with exhaustive programs and an acclaimed infrastructure in your program.It’s also crucial that you understand the types of colleges available, and what each offers in the way of perks and benefits. Here’s a short run-down. Liberal arts colleges furnish the student with a well-rounded education and have ample selection for a long list of majors. Students focus on their major in their junior and senior year. Universities are more prestigious, and they offer graduate and undergraduate programs. It’s common, for example, to have research facilities on the campus. Specialized schools position themselves in a niche, and they focus on one broad topic like engineering or the arts. Community colleges are ideal for students that want a good education prior to transferring to a 4 year college or university. Even the 2 year degrees offered by community colleges can increase the chances of getting hired. The Associate of Arts or Associate of Science offered by community colleges is typically transferrable to a 4 year university. The tuition is much lower, lilliputian in comparison to some colleges. It’s advisable to get involved in Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of 2 year colleges, to get reduced tuition and potential scholarships when you transfer out. The membership criteria is basic, but you do need a 3.5 average or above. Every state and most districts have a website that lists the accredited community colleges and their accompanying information like registration, tuition, etc. Keep focused, and you’ll do well at your college of choice.

Who Benefits Most From Attending an Online College?For those involved with online education, the goals are very clear: to provide quality education to all, including people who cannot attend in classroom courses. There are, however, more pinpointed goals of those who participate in online education. For example, most online educators encourage these courses in order to help boost their college's overall enrollment status. If a college offers up online classes in addition to what they have on campus, they are most likely going to have a higher enrollment rate, giving more funds to the college itself. But this is just a small part of the bigger picture. Online educators also have goals for the students as well.The best part of offering distance learning classes is that it provides more students with more learning opportunities. Without it, many people may miss out on getting a higher education at all. When asked by the National Center for Education Statistics what their goals were, online educators also mentioned some other interesting points. Many stated that online education was an excellent way to lower tuition costs for students who could not otherwise afford college. Also, online education opens up many doors for local employers. The more people who have a college degree, the more employers and businesses can choose from a qualified pool of people.The rising cost of education is evident to many who are looking to receive a college degree. In most cases online schooling costs much less than that of a traditional college. Online educators agree that this alternative avenue achieves another one of their goals. This is the goal of offering up the ability to take college courses to more people who normally would not be able to afford it. The convenience, quality, and affordability combined make for an attractive option to people seeking higher learning who are unable to do so within the classroom.

In recent years you’ve probably heard the term “podcast” at the end of your favorite television or radio program. Perhaps you are digitally savvy and know just what that means, or maybe you are not sure exactly what the term signifies; but either way, you might not have considered how podcasts have changed online learning.What is a "podcast?"A “podcast” is a digital media file (or series of files) that is distributed over the Internet. You play a podcast with either a hand-held digital device (such as an iPod—hence the “pod” in the podcast) or on a personal computer. Because you can download these “broadcasts” and listen to them at any time that is convenient for you, they are incredibly valuable in the world of online learning.Podcasts & Online LearningOnline learning provides flexibility and access to anyone interested in earning a college degree, an advanced degree, or fulfilling continuing education requirements. With online learning, you can be miles away from the school of your choice and not have to uproot your life, career, and family to earn that degree. You can also earn your degree in the evenings or on weekends—or even in the middle of the night! Online learning has become increasingly popular over the last ten years, and even the stodgiest of the brick-and-mortar colleges and universities are hopping on the bandwagon and providing either partial or full degree programs online. Podcasts have made online learning even easier, and unlike older digital video and audio files, are much more compact and simple to both create and download, and don’t usually require special technology to view or listen to.Professors use basic video technology to record their lectures, then convert the file to a digital format and place the lectures on a web host site. Students can download the lectures and listen to them as many times as they need to in order to best absorb the information. Of course, students can also listen to the lectures at any time of the day or night—which is highly valuable for those that are working and earning an online degree.Many colleges are now using podcasts to enhance the learning experience of both the traditional classroom and those utilizing online and distance learning opportunities. In the fall of 2004, Duke University made waves by giving each of their incoming freshman an iPod to assist them with their studies. While Duke didn’t experience the sweeping success they’d hoped for, there is no doubt that online learning is significantly benefited by the use of podcasts.Listening to digital audio content won’t, of course, replace reading, listening to live presentations, or the multitude of other ways students absorb in information, but it can augment those methods significantly—and certainly makes online learning much easier and more accessible. If you are planning on earning a degree online, you may want to consider an MP3 player to be an important part of your “school supplies.” With an MP3 player, you can listen to your lectures while at the gym or stuck in traffic. It’s the ultimate in multi-tasking!

Friday, September 7, 2007

.The New Trend Of Online EducationWith the Internet, digital libraries and online encyclopedias, the way we learn is changing faster than ever before. Learning new things are very easy now. Even traditional schools, colleges, universities and specialty schools are now using online strategies similar to those used in corporate training.Children with illnesses or injuries can do their schoolwork online. Home-Schooling is one program that online education offers. It best suits to those who wish to go back to school and get a degree part-time working at their pace.Parents are also considering home education for their children as distance learning grows more popular. The future of education looks more digital than ever. More students are prepared for online education and are willing to take courses online for college. Nowadays, online educational institutions are growing in number and enrollments. This is because they can offer the working class a chance to advance in their careers, develop a higher level of personal confidence, and fulfill life-long dreams.Unlike in the past, working adults can't be able to expand their careers because of time restraints. What takes away those time restraints is online education which completely offers virtual learning experience.Online education has resulted in thousands of virtual classrooms that offer the possibility for accomplishment and advancement for all since the Internet is moving well beyond e-mails and e-commerce.It is refreshing to know that the Internet provides learning resources which allow almost anyone to learn about almost anything in an age where everyone and everything is stretched too thin. You can now say that higher education is now available to any person with the drive, the desire and a personal computer. You can now feel confident that life and opportunity are not passing you by.If you have the opportunity to take an online course, don't ignore it whatever your choice is. Life is a long-term learning stadium where you are given the tools that other generations would have appreciated